File:Future systems, copenhagen harbour, 2004-2008 (2455559824).jpg

metropolis tower, 44 flats, copenhagen, 2004-2008. architects: future systems, london + kasper danielsen arkitekter, copenhagen.

construction site visit.

future systems have designed a housing block for a small peninsula in the copenhagen south harbour. it is speculative housing for a private client and the project is marketed as luxury flats, the most obvious luxury being the stunning views of the city, the water, and the west coast of sweden.

the house is called a tower but copenhagen has a fear of heights and we are really looking at a solitary housing block. it seems that a primary concern of future systems has been to model the block which is wider than it is high so that it would appear slender and tower-like from certain vantage points, namely arriving at the site (as seen above) and looking towards the house from the city.

so far, so successful. pretty girl in a blue prefab dress. but surprisingly there is no connection between the exterior shape and the interior. in fact, the flats are largely rectilinear and the balconies simply fill the gap to the curvaceous facade.

there are no signs of future systems within. the plans are typical of Danish housing, albeit somewhat compromised by the complex exterior geometry, they halfheartedly conform to. details everywhere are from catalogues; you saw the stairs below. we use those in social housing.

nothing wrong with catalogues, I suppose, modern architecture is a collage of products as opposed to an assemblage of materials. but the fact that the inside is so completely divorced from the outside makes this a building without integrity and not an example to be followed.

deeply sceptical of the current fascination with form, I believe that almost anything worth achieving in architecture can be done with a box, but the "almost" in that claim is important. the sculptural part of future systems' project has real qualities but they don't follow through.

as such, the project proves itself to be part of the noisy, nouveau riche event culture of the property boom - it is pop art without the art.

and as such, it is unlikely to have any followers. the recent collapse of the copenhagen housing market will see to that.

still, standing on the roof, surrounded by water and a 360 degrees view of copenhagen and its suburbs was a thrill, no less.

other future systems photos on flickr: www.flickr.com/photos/iqbalaalam/2266658498/in/set-721576... www.flickr.com/photos/iqbalaalam/2273272233/in/set-721576...

this photo was uploaded with a CC license and may be used free of charge and in any way you see fit.